BELLINGHAM - A Bellingham man was arrested on suspicion of slicing a homeless man's face with a pocketknife Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27.

The men got into an argument over a debt while eating a free community lunch at the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave., said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young.

So the 39-year-old victim went outside and sat on a bench at 1:45 p.m., when the alleged attacker - Patrick Scott Brackett, 45 - came outside and confronted the man again. They argued, then started to fight. The victim didn't realize Brackett was armed with a small metal pocketknife, Young said.

He was taken to St. Joseph hospital with cuts to his face.

Police arrived within two minutes and booked Brackett into jail on suspicion of assault in the first degree. The knife was seized by police.

Young declined to release details about the debt.

Brackett has a history of drug-related crimes from when he lived in Oklahoma several years ago.

Reach Caleb Hutton at 360-715-2276 or caleb.hutton@bellinghamherald.com. Read his dispatcher blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/dispatcher or follow him on Twitter at @bhamcrime.